Pikmin Can
by Sixelle of Fireyness
Summary: Little mischievous deeds recorded by a young girl who 'babysits' her father's botanic creations. Alternate Universe.


**alternate title.** _Plants set things on FIRE?_

**note.** Original characters. Alternate universe. References galore. Grammar mistakes and everything related to it. While I can make no guarantee of going back to check on my work, if you decide you must point out a grammar boo-boo, go for it. I need to get better at writing, so critics are appreciated. (Although this is actually an old work I typed up about a year ago, so grammar mistakes are to be expected.)

**warning.** Fluff. That's about as dangerous as it'll get.

**disclaimer.** You KNOW **Pikmin** doesn't belong to me.

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My father is a genius. I mean it. He truly he is, and I can tell you the main reason why.

He, a botanist, together with the help of fellow science acquaintances, created a new life-form. What is this new life-form, you ask? Well…

Frankly, I don't know, nor do I care. My father shares his discoveries with my mother, but honestly, I can't understand half of the things he writes down in letters. Besides, I'm busy with a craft of my own. To the attention of those who it concern, I want to become a gardener specializing in herbs to make a living out of profits, and because I truly love plants.

So on a normal day where I was checking my basils and chives, Mom paid me a visit in the plant room.

"Letter for you from your dad, hon." She kissed my forehead for extra effects. "He brought you a… gift, too. It's waiting for you in the living room."

I didn't miss the way her voice hitched when she said the word 'gift'. Against my better judgments, I stood from my place before my plants, curiosity obviously stirred. Dad does send me presents every now and then, since he travels around frequently, so souvenir gifts are a thing which always made an appearance here. We have a whole room dedicated to the large mass of them we've received from him. However, if I took upon my mother's voice alone, I think my father must have pulled out all of the stops this time.

After the short trip from my room, across the hall to the living room, I met my mother in front of a large packet by the doorway.

"Well, open it. It's yours. Says so specifically on the packet."

"What about yours?"

"Already opened it." She held a series of key chains in her hands. My mother like them a lot, especially those with the markings of the places Dad bought them from. Of course, Dad knew what kind of things to buy for her. Me, I don't have a particular preference, so he bought whatever tickled his fancy. Not that I mind. I have a side hobby of making an assortment of arts and crafts, so tend to turn it into something differing what it was before.

That aside, my present today looks different from what it normally is. For one, the packaging was bigger than normal. Dad usually sent me a small trinket, similar to what Mom had. With the size of the box, anything could inside, though, knowing my father he's probably just overdressing it.

I went ahead and opened it, finding ten potted plants inside, all of them tall, red stems with leaves at the tip.

I looked at it perplexed. My father… sent me plants as a gift? Don't get me wrong. I love to raise plants, but this is the first time he's actually sent one to me. Considering how plants make up a large part of our life, it goes unsaid to partake in this sort of thing in this kind of setting. I wonder what Dad was thinking?

My eyes stayed on my newest additions to my garden when I noticed something.

The stems were moving on their own. I paused, my senses on edge. The air conditioner didn't seem to be on at the moment. _The plants were moving on their own_.

Back and forth they went, like they were beckoning me to pull at them.

"Mom… do you see that?"

"I… I do…" She was giving the plants the stink eye, obviously wanting to stay as far away as possible from the package.

On the other hand, her daughter wanted nothing more than to grab hold of the exotic plant, and discover exactly what made it tick – namely how it managed to move as so.

With the thought fueling my actions, my hand caught hold of the stalk. It stilled at my touch. I took the effect as a sign I was doing a good thing. Sadly, the plan never made beyond the initial thought. The following sequence had been left at a blank, but did that stop me from progressing? One would be mistaken to think otherwise. A reflex – I don't know what else it could have been – placed my nerves on edge, ready for movement. My arm pulled back hard in a yank, pulling the plant from its turf.

A light squeal – _Yahoo!_ – resounded as the plant was held in the air. I stared at it for a good while, my grip still tense over the stem.

The rest of the plant was red, just as its stalk, but what caught my attention was the small _humanoid_ body of the plant organism. It has limbs, big eyes with black at the center staring at me right back. Its pointed nose twitched as it made another quirky sound. Its head moved to the side, as much as it could within my grasp, tiny arms moving up and down, legs moving from side.

In all honesty, it was cute.

Eventually, I set it on the ground, allowing my mother to interact with it as I finally read over the contents of my father's letter.

_My darling Momoiro, how have you been? I'm sorry my last letter wasn't very long. I honestly ran out of things to say to you. Work has been busy lately. Well, that's nothing new, I suppose, but, honey, I want to take the time to elaborate on something I last spoke to you about. Remember those new creatures I was telling you we developed? Well, they're called the Pikmin._

I looked up from the letter to study the 'Pikmin'.

_They are rather curious creatures, I'm sure you'll agree. I cannot go into the details of how they were and what they are created from. I will say I'd like your assistance. You see, the Pikmin are rather… playful._

The 'Pikmin' currently tugged at my mother's apron.

_And I'm afraid the lab isn't the best place to properly study them. We all eventually came to a decision. We want our most trusted people to interact with the Pikmin and document their behavior, be it by video recorder or by written records. Preferably both, considering how curious and excitable Pikmin can get._

Funny, he was talking as if I were dealing with an entire nation… then again, I had nine more of these 'Pikmin' to deal with.

_Honey, I wouldn't want to talk on for too long. I want to say this isn't difficult to do, but if you'll allow me a few more words in as reassurance. You don't have to act differently around the house now with the new additions. I merely want a few words in as these are not the only Pikmins which have been sent out from the lab. In fact, I encourage regular behavior around them to analyze for future research. Make sure to interact with them as well. They are a friendly bunch._

That couldn't be denied, not when I had a living testament in the form of my mother and the little stray some ways next to me.

_With that said, I liked to also give you a fair warning._

I did not like where this was going.

_While we are against the notion of solely studying them in the lab, we've kept a few around. That being said, we've also done some early research on them as I've said previously. While we don't know much, I'd like to mention these Pikmin are capable of amazing feats. What they are we aren't too sure ourselves. However, recent test results revealed that the Red Pikmin I've sent you have body temperature far exceeding those of humans. Nothing alarming, since they are safe to touch, but we still haven't discovered the purpose for this increase in heat within them. I would still like to warn you to be careful. I'm sure nothing disastrous will come home from them, but a little precaution wouldn't hurt._

My eyes skimmed around this part, shifting to the side just in time to see the little 'Pikmin' spew out a ball of fire on my mom's apron.

_Just enjoy yourself and you'll be fine I hope. Have fun, darling. Your father, Orima. P.S. Tell your mother not to freak out over the Pikmin all right?_

Easy for you to say, considering the 'Pikmin' currently sent my mother screaming her lungs out down the hall.


End file.
